David DiSalvo is the author of "Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain’s Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life" and the best-selling "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite", which has been published in 10 languages. His work has appeared in Scientific American Mind, Forbes, Time, Psychology Today, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Salon, Esquire, Mental Floss and other publications, and he’s the writer behind the widely read science and technology blogs “Neuropsyched” at Forbes and “Neuronarrative” at Psychology Today. He can be found on Twitter @neuronarrative and at his website, daviddisalvo.org. Contact him at: disalvowrites [at] gmail.com.

The Straight Dope on What Bath Salts Do to Your Brain and Why They're Dangerous

That question brings us back to the two main reasons bath salts are dangerous.

First: recommended dosage. There isn’t any. All a buyer knows is that they’ve paid $50 for a pouch of crystallized powder. At first they use a little and experience a bit of a boost, then a little more to keep the boost going, and so forth until their pouch of Ivory Wave is empty. When you read the testimonials of people who have used bath salts and experienced horrible effects, it’s clear that most ingested all of the bath salts either in one sitting or over a short span of time.

When your brain is hit with that much psychoactive stimulant, the nervous system overloads and all of the brain’s hardwired threat alarms go off. The predictable result is paranoia, panic attacks, mood swings and reckless behavior. Plus, another effect called hyperthermia kicks in, which means that your body is overheating because it can’t dissipate heat quickly enough to keep you cooled down.

When you add all of those effects together, you get the “dark hell” many people describe after their first, and often their last, experience with the drugs.

You also get the second main reason bath salts are dangerous — when your brain is going through the ceiling, you can’t sleep. One of the things bath salt users commonly report is that they tried taking a sedative, like Xanax, to counter the effects of the drugs so they could fall asleep, but it didn’t work. This is the equivalent of trying to stop a freight train barreling down the track at 150 mph with a Toyota. Or even ten Toyotas. Once your nervous system has gone loco, and there’s still a lot of the stimulant in your system to keep the train moving, low dose sedatives aren’t going to stop it.

When the brain can’t sleep, nothing good will result. Sleep deprivation effects range from depression to psychosis depending on length of time. At the very least, not sleeping results in elevated stress hormone levels, presumably because the brain is reacting to perceived danger. This effect compounds the nervous system effects the drugs are already busily catalyzing.

With enough of the substance coursing through someone’s body, and several nights of not sleeping, could you end up with someone gnawing off another person’s face? Possibly, yes — but (another big ‘but’) since we are talking about psychoactive substances that amplify thought and behavior, it’s quite likely that the face eater was already flirting with some dangerous tendencies before ingesting the drug. Thousands, perhaps millions, of people have used bath salts without becoming cannibals. But of course it’s the outlier cases that get the ink.

Does that mean that using bath salts is a good idea? Emphatically - No. Precious little is known about what these drugs do to the brain over time, and all signs so far suggest that it’s probably not good. Even in the short term, placing so much stress on your nervous system and body is just not a good idea. It’s like red lining your car for miles and hoping the engine doesn’t explode. And if you happen to have a heart condition, particularly one you don’t even know about, ingesting a pouch of bath salts could trigger a tragic outcome.

Aside from that, bath salts contain a bevy of harsh chemicals in addition to the psychoactive substances — like lidocaine, a topical analgesic and anti-itch agent. Why is it in some varieties of bath salts? Who knows, but it along with a lot of other stuff that hasn’t even been identified yet is getting circulated throughout your body when you ingest the powder. Think of it this way — would you knowingly snort a line of athletes foot powder?

The best policy, even if you happen to live in a place where it’s still legal to buy the drugs, is to avoid them. You won’t be doing your brain any favors if you don’t.

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I appreciate the thoughtfulness of this article. It is really bothersome when outlandish incidences, like the case in miami, happen and people instantly start blaming drug abuse. What people don’t understand is, when someone participates in these insane acts under the influence of a drug, they usually already have mental problems. Ever since the beginning of prohibition society has had this misconception that a drug can turn anyone into an uncontrollable monster.

The question is whether the neurotransmitters are fried or killed outright? and if killed outright? there is no coming back!!! Have you ever watched a frying pan explode in fire while the bacon in it goes progressively from ok to charcoal, burnt offering in about 30 seconds?

Rate of disintegration of the body’s central neural pathways describes the situation; if you are not told of the “rate of disintegration”, some who like to play close to the edge might still be induced to “try it just once, try it Sam, you’le like it”.

You will find the wisdom enclosed here: “The love of money is the root of all evil”, so?? once they have your hard-earned cat-food money, what do they care?, answer, not at all!!! Wise up America.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit signals from neurons across a synapse. They can easily be restored through diet, or by supplement. For example, depleted dopamine levels can be restored by taking the precursor supplement L-Tyrosine. Another example would be restoration of serotonin levels by taking the precursor supplement 5-HTP.

I believe that permanent changes to the function of pre-synaptic, direct synaptic, and post synaptic transmission mechanisms of neurotransmitters would be of primary concern.

An interesting and provocative article. But as someone unexposed to the media coverage you refer to at the beginning of the piece, I’m not aware of the particular salts you’re talking about. For example, I love to add a whallop of Epsom salt to a bath and then pour myself in, but at 25 cents a cup I’m guessing this isn’t the stuff you’re talking about. Not even the shishy stuff available at Whole Foods costs 50 bucks a bath. So a little bit more information would be very useful to me: where might I come across these brain-pickling crystals, and how would I recognize them if I did?

these bath salts are clearly NOT bath salts! They are marketed and labeled to avoid regulation- Some are even labeled Glass Cleaner- You can only buy them at “ethnically owned” carry-outs and often don’t even see the product before purchase. In short you would know if you bought this. I am not by any means against immigration and seeking out the American dream- I am against moving here, not paying taxes and secretly selling products that they not only do not charge sales tax on, but may in fact kill you. How this is not seen as domestic terrorism I don’t know- I guess Big Brother will just sweep it under the rug and tell us they have it under control. Also the person who wrote article clearly has never done either of these drugs and its painfully obvious.

I have purchased K2, Potpourri, Mr. Happy, Bath Salt and Glass Cleaner, for my wife and my friends due to pressure and I hate what it does to the people and how they constantly throw money towards this crap, My wife yes I love her dearly but really upset with her over finances pulled out four cash advances in order to support her habit and also her friends habit, I have been screamed at and even physically attacked towards saying anything negative about these products and even my refusal to go out and retrieve these items has been met with volatile results from my spouse. I am met with the usual “You do not know what it’s like or the how dare you tell me I have a problem when you sit and play video games all day!” Essentially no matter what I say it’s my fault and I have no right to complain. These products have put a strain on my family and just recently my spouse has seen the damage and all the financial issues we have due to her problem. She quit yesterday I am proud of her but for how long we have been through this bout time and again.

The thing people don’t get about drug abuse is where the blame lies. I’m not saying your wife is a bad person, but this strain on your life is her fault, not the drugs’. I firmly believe that all drugs should be legal to purchase and use, and that it is the responsibility of individuals to use them responsibly if they decide to use them at all.

That said, I’m glad to hear your wife was able to overcome her habit. I know it’s been a long time since you posted, I hope she’s still drug-free and that all is well.

This article is propaganda. There is only one cited study and the rest is merely opinion with a list of possible side effects. Get some facts before you publish such a fabrication and scare the public.

Wait… what? Propaganda how? Scare the public? Fabrication? This is probably one of the least sensationalized articles I’ve read on the internet. Are you a proponent of using bath salts? What facts are you looking to see included? Was the measured, calm narrative about the potential dangers of abusing a consumer product offensive to you?

As a moderately experienced psychonavigator, I found this article to be refreshingly straight-forward and not as alarmist as one would expect (especially in light of the horrific press around the Miami attack). I did notice that there were too many analogies, which to me always seem more theatrical than useful. He was careful not to declare that bath salts are instant zombie powder, and he put most of the blame for the attack on underlying psychosis exposed by the mental stress of excessive drug use, and the lack of any form of dosage guide. That was correct, and it was the opposite of what every police-sponsored drug “education” program would say. They like to say that every drug is deadly, which rings false with kids because they know that their friends are having fun with them. It’s better to lay out the real risks and trust people to judge for themselves whether some new high is worth the potentially frightening side effects. If you want to complain about alarmist propaganda, look at what the mainstream media did to GHB. Here was an enormously beneficial chemical that used by be available in bulk at nutrition stores before it was labeled a date rape drug. (Never mind the fact that the total number of date rapes where GHB was ever implicated are probably less than the number of date rapes directly attributable to a single brand of liquor in a single weekend.) I had a half dozen friends who had successfully cured themselves of alcoholism with low doses of GHB before bad journalism and an even worse Attorney General of the United States pulled the rug out from under them. My point being that the author here deliberately did not pull out all the stops and write an ultra-sensational panic button article, and I appreciate his journalistic restraint.

I’m disturbed that you’re actually trying to defend GHB here. Alarmist media propaganda? The danger of date rape is very real. As a man, you have the privilege of never, in your entire life, having to worry about the constant and very real threat of date rape. Of course you’re upset that a drug with some mild beneficial properties has been made illegal… because the reasons why it has been made illegal will never, ever apply to you or affect you in any way. Unless, of course, you have the misfortune of having your daughter or wife raped and impregnated with GHB as the weapon… but I’m sure that to you, a couple of women raped here and there is nothing compared to the enormous benefits of curing alcoholism (which is completely and entirely the fault and choice of the sufferer).

I’m sure if GHB was routinely and consistently used by women to make men unconscious and slice off their penises, you’d be just fine with it being illegal. But this just doesn’t happen. Try to see things from a woman’s point of view rather than a man’s, because you truly just implied that the alcoholism-curing effects of GHB far outweigh the tragedy of date rape, and likened GHB as a date rape drug to “just alarmist media propaganda.”

The entire article after your introduction is opinion. You have only referenced one study that illustrates nothing near dangerous consequences. As a writer it’s your responsibility to find the facts, good luck putting that burden on your readers.

What a thoroughly vacuous response. The facts of the article are evident to anyone not blinded by vested interest. Again, I invite you to offer any additional facts you believe contradict those discussed in the article.

And you are mistaken about your role as a reader. My job is to introduce information and offer an argument(s) that I believe is supported by the information. Your job as a reader who disagrees with me is to point out where you believe my argument is flawed and offer information that supports your criticisms. What you have done instead is make a blanket statement that everything besides one referenced study is my opinion, and then fail to offer any support for your argument. For example, would you take issue with the factual definitions and descriptions of mephedrone and MPDV, and terms such as “psychoactive” and “hallucinogen”? Since those are referenced apart from the study you mention, your blanket statement that I am only stating my opinion is obviously false. So, the next question becomes, can you offer any additional information to support what I presume will be an amended criticism, given that your original criticism doesn’t hold water?

Brooke, I find it extremely offensive that you so complete dismiss the many many male victims of date rape. Unfortunately the myth that men cannot be raped continues in our society and does great harm to male survivors. By saying “As a man, you have the privilege of never, in your entire life, having to worry about the constant and very real threat of date rape” you perpetuate particularly heinous assumptions about male victims (that they are either impervious to rape, or “should have enjoyed it”). Neither of these assumptions is true. In fact, it would not surprise me if a larger percentage of male rape involved substances then female rape.

Secondly, I’d like to make a point about your dismissal of alcoholism as a “voluntary” disease. At this point, susceptibility to addiction almost certainly relates to an individuals genetics and socialization. Claiming addiction is “completely and entirely the fault and choice of the sufferer” is just as false as claiming that depressed individuals “choose” to be depressed and should simply snap out of it. Those afflicted with propensity for addiction struggle daily with a extremely difficult and insidious disease. Please do not disrespect their struggle by saying they chose their fate. You wouldn’t accuse an autistic person of “choosing” their state, would you?

Finally, Chad actually makes a very valid about the “alarmist media propaganda” which surrounded the criminalization of GHB. You reacted strongly to his assertion that GHB did not deserve to be scheduled because you see it as a way of facilitating date rape. In fact, very few cases of date rape were ever linked to GHB while other drugs (such as alcohol, Zolpidem a.k.a. Ambien, or temazopam) continue to be used frequently and effectively. Chad’s point is that GHB did not cause date rape to be invented, and it’s banning did not prevent date rape, because FAR more people are raped under the influence of alcohol than ANY other drug. Painting GHB or other sedatives as a scapegoat may even cause more date rape, as it encourages people to watch out for spiked drinks instead of simply watching how much alcohol they consume. Indeed, a couple interesting studies (all liked to under “Alcohol on this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_rape_drug#GHB.2FGBL.2F1.2C4_BDO) showed that a maximum of 2% of people admitted to hospitals claiming to have been drugged actually were. That mean 98% of the time, people just drink too much and can’t handle themselves.

However, GHB does have several significant medical benefits. Besides it’s use, as Chad noted, for helping wean people off alcohol, GHB promotes muscle growth, and has been used medically to treat insomnia, depression, and narcolepsy, just to name a few. It DOES have an accepted place in the medical world, and perhaps in the recreational one, due to the lack of hangover one experiences.

Unfortunately, due to alarmist media propaganda, many people assume date rapists routinely utilize GHB during their attacks, which simply isn’t true. To reiterate, I’m not saying date rape doesn’t happen – I’m saying GHB wasn’t the culprit we should blame. Instead blame alcohol, and most of all, blame rapists. But because the media, and the Attorney General pointed the finger at it, our society lost the use of rather nice chemical due to misplaced fear and anger.

GHB has both legitimate medical uses, and enjoyable (so I hear) recreational uses.

If someone uses anything as a tool to rape a person, is it the fault of the thing in question? Should the thing in question be banned? Let us pretend for a moment that this would be the normal, logical procedure to follow. The following list of things would be banned, because they would tools of rape: Alcohol, any prescription drug that might alter judgement, sharp objects such as kitchen knives, blunt objects, rope, tape, flashy cars, penises, fists etc.

GHB should not be demonized as a date rape drug because certain people choose to misuse it as one. Should computers be labeled ‘Child Porn Scam Boxes’ and banned because some people misuse them for the purpose of child porn and scams? Should Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” be banned because some use it to cause mental anguish to uneducated rubes? Of course not.

The two people involved should both be blamed, in the case of a rape facilitated by GHB. These people would be 1) The rapist and 2) The woman or man who was naive and left their drink or food unattended, or accepted a drink from someone without watching it being poured.

Brooke, It seems you have some very strong issues with GHB. However I hate to inform you that while a man may not be date raped and end up impregnated, men are date raped as well as women. It seems very inappropriate for you to single out the issues around GHB from a feminist point of view. As for the statement you made about the enormous benefits of curing of alcoholism (which is completely and entirely the fault and choice of the sufferer.), you don’t have a clue. Alcoholism is “NOT” completely and entirely the fault of the sufferer. It has been proven that it can be hereditary . There are several under lying conditions and reasons individuals are alcoholics. For you to make such a generalized statement seems totally unfair for the alcoholic as well as limiting as to their ability for recovery. It seems to me that you are the one coming from a sexist point of view as far as to how you understand this article. I would have to agree with Chad, Mr. DiSalvo’s professionalism as a journalist was very obvious in his article. Thanks for your OPINION!

On more ocasions than I would like to admit , my friends have informed me of the out of control behavior they witnessed of myself on the previous night of a Tequilla induced partyfest. Never once did they inform me that I had eaten the face of a fellow human.

Is it possible that you’re unaware that Cecil Adams has been publishing a column called “The Straight Dope” for twenty something years? I assumed that he was the author of this article. I at least expected you to mention him or quote him. This is a good article, but I’d have enjoyed it more had you not used another writer’s column name for it.

No I must admit that I was not aware of that, but please note that the name of my column is not The Straight Dope — the phrase was only part of the title of this particular piece, and was just a play on words (dope = drugs). No disrespect meant to Mr. Adams.

I expected this to be Cecil Adams’ column as well! Glad to see I’m not the only one who made that mistake. Regardless this was a very good read. (^_^)

Until recently I worked on a substance abuse unit and saw up close and personal what bath salts can do. I’m guessing anyone foolish enough to accuse DiSalvo of having written “Reefer Madness” propaganda has not.